A project is a activity to create products or services. Every project has a beginning and end and has a time deadline for completion. Project management required to satisfy the needs of the project. Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK ) published by project management institute,is the collection of standards to achieve success in project. By referring to this document, managers are benefited in the sense that they use or try to use all the available resources at their disposal to the extent possible in completing the project successfully. According to PMBOK , management of a project is achieved through the application and integration of forty seven processes. The processes are classified into five groups and arranged in a systematic way in different areas. Every aspect related to project finds clear definition here. Here we find the complete description of project management life cycle. The standards correlate with related disciplines like program management and portfolio management. A common vocabulary for project, program, portfolio managers and other stakeholders is provided in PMBOK. Using this leads to effective communication and successful completion of project within the time allocated. The project manager has many tasks. He or she is the main decision maker. The manager decides on how the project should. Any sudden or unexpected problems that arise during the execution of project has to be tackled effectively. The manager is the ultimate decision maker in deciding the number of people required to work on the project and their job descriptions. All these multitasking on the part of manager requires proper time management and concentrating on critical activities. A manager needs to communicate with the local government authorities regarding various clearances related to project. The manager needs to discuss status of project with the top management of the company at regular time intervals and clarify their queries. The project manager communicates with other stakeholders regularly. Routine tasks of manager can be assigned to subordinates according to management principles.
Project time management contains processes required for completion of the project before the deadline. An overview, according to PMBOK consists of following:
Comparison of different kinds of activities required to produce deliverables in the project.
Discussion of methods to identify correlation among different tasks. Estimating the nature and quantities of resources required for performing different tasks. Estimating the time required to complete different tasks. Development of scheduling model considering various factors.
Development of techniques for tracking the project status and using this information to document project progress.
The mechanisms and procedures for implementing each of the above process are different. Famous scheduling methods used are critical path method and critical chain method. A scheduling model can be constructed using the precedence diagramming method. Here nodes represent activities and they are are graphically linked using logical relationships to show the sequence of activities. Software packages use this method. Logical relationships are called as dependencies.They are graphically represented by project schedule network diagram. It is produced manually or by using software. It includes full details of the project and summary activities. A summary narrative accompanying the diagram describes the fundamental approach used for sequencing of activities. Unusual activity sequences within the network are described in the narrative. The implementation of process involves effort from project team members. Each process can occur more than once in the project. These processes collaborate with processes in other knowledge areas and with each other. For projects with narrow scope, all the activities are treated as a single process and performed by a single person in a short period of time. There are various resource optimization techniques used to adjust the schedule model based on the demand,supply of resources.
Project cost management consists of processes involved in devising, computation, allocating, financing,obtaining capital among others. The objective is to ensure that the project is completed in agreement with the budget. It is critical to define the scope early in the project since there is ability to influence cost. The main focus is on the cost of the resources needed to complete activities. There are other critical things like number of design reviews which can be restricted to reduce the cost of the project but can have the effect of increasing the operating costs of the product.
According to PMBOK , overview of the project cost management processes is as follows.
Mechanism for creation of the guidelines, operations, and authorization for projection, administering, disbursing, and regulating enterprise costs. The task of developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project activities. Determination of budget. The task of monitoring the status of the project to update the costs.
For smaller scope projects, cost estimating and cost budgeting are tightly linked and treated as a single process that is performed by a single person over a short period of time. The requirements of stakeholders for managing costs are considered. Various stakeholders measure project costs in different ways and at different times. When predictions and analyses are included, project cost management addresses new processes and general financial management techniques. The planning for cost management occurs in the early stages of project planning and results in the efficient and coordinated performance of processes. The cost management plan is a subset of project management plan and describes the planning, structuring and controlling of project costs. A cost estimate is a quantitative assessment of costs required to complete the activity. Costs are estimated for following resources among others: manpower,raw materials,instruments,utilities. Some of the tools used are expert opinion,analytical methods and meetings.
Project human resource management consists of activities for the efficient organization and management of project team. For completing the project,roles and responsibilities are assigned for team members. They have diverse skill sets and work full or part-time on the project. Depending on progress of the project more team members can be added or existing ones can be removed. The involvement of all team members in project planning and decision making is advantageous. Participation of team members during planning brings their expertise to the process and strengthens their commitment.A bird's eye view of different processes, according to PMBOK is as follows.
Creation of an efficient staffing strategy. This includes identification of reporting hierarchy for the team members,their functions,obligations among others. Recruitment of team needed for project execution. Steps to increase performance of team members in the project. This includes among others, skill and communication improvement programmes. Activities to increase achievements in the project is done through monitoring of work of all team members,giving feedback,solving controversies among others.
These processes interact with each other and with processes in other areas and as a result, increased planning is required throughout the project. The project management team is a part of project team and manages tasks like project management and leadership activities among others. This group is called core executive. For smaller projects,the project manager administers everything or the responsibilities are shared by the entire team. All the team members need to be thorough professional on their job and have strong ethics. The manager must constantly motivate the team members so that the project proceeds smoothly. He needs to be constantly monitoring factors like internal and external politics,cultural differences among team members which may adversely affect the progress of project. If present they must be handled diplomatically without offending anyone.
Integration management is concerned with identification, coordinates the actvities among others within the project groups. It includes managing expectations of stakeholder and meeting other needs. It includes making informed choices regarding resource allocation, achieving compromise between different objectives and alternatives, and managing mutual reliance among the different knowledge areas.
Scope management includes the tasks required to successfully complete the project. The term scope includes product scope and project scope. The scope guideline for the project is a combination of scope statement,work breakdown structure and its glossary. According to PMBOK ,completion of the project scope and product scope is benchmarked against project management plan and product requirements respectively.
Quality management includes the tasks needed to satisfy the needs of the project. It supports process improvement activities on a regular basis. It applies to all projects. Quality measures and procedures are specific to the type of output produced by a project whether it is software development or construction of a nuclear power plant. In both cases, failure to meet the quality requirements results in serious, negative consequences for project’s stakeholders.
Communications management consists of mechanisms that ensure information collection, storage,recovery,distribution is done in the right way. Effective communication between project managers,team members and stakeholders clears misunderstandings and ensures successful completion of project. Different types of communications include verbal person to person interaction at different levels, emails,video conferencing,printed documentation like official newsletters, annual reports. There is also voice inflections,body language,off the record communication whose importance cannot be overstated. Communication related to project can take place between manager and customers, vendors,general public,government regulatory agencies and of course the top management who need to be constantly updated.
According to PMBOK , risk management includes the tasks of identification of risk and its analysis,how to respond to risk and controlling risk. The objective is to increase the probability of positive events, and decrease the probability of negative events. Risk exists at the moment a project is launched. To deliver a successful project an organization needs to be committed in addressing risk management throughout the duration of project. The attitude of organization to risk can include tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity,levels at which risk becomes unacceptable,a certain degree of risk tolerated after which a different risk response becomes inevitable.
An organization can buy or sell products, services, or results of a project. The mechanisms necessary to purchase or acquire products, services, or results needed from outside are a part of procurement management. It is the project management team’s responsibility to make certain that all purshases meet the needs of the project while strictly adhering to procurement policies of the organization. Just in time purchase option needs to be seriously considered.
Most projects have varied number of stakeholders depending on type,size and complexity. The mechanisms required to identify the people, groups, or organizations who can impact or be impacted by the project form part of stakeholder management. It analyzes genuine expectations of stakeholder and their impact on the project, develops suitable strategies for involving stakeholders in decision making and execution. There is focus on regular communication with stakeholders to understand their viewpoint on various matters. Issues are addressed as they occur. Conflicting interests are managed. Stakeholder satisfaction is measured as a key project objective. It is the responsibility of the project manager to correctly identify and manage stakeholders in a convenient manner. This can mean success or failure of the project.Stakeholder analysis is done to find those stakeholders whose interests should be considered throughout the duration of project activity.
Work Cited
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). 5th ed. Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute, 2013. Print.
